DENVER – The University of Denver women's basketball team fell to Kansas City 77-68 on Tuesday night inside Hamilton Gymnasium.
Inside the Box Score:
Meghan Boyd led the Pioneers with 21 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals, finishing 7-of-12 from the field, 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and 4-for-4 from the foul line.
Uju Ezeudu also finished in double figures, earning 10 of her 18 points from the free-throw stripe, and adding eight rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Tess Santos chipped in 11 points, knocking down 8-of-8 from the line. As a team, Denver finished 26-of-30 from the foul line.
Anna Jackson turned in a nine point night, all from beyond the arc, to go with five rebounds.
Denver finished 26-of-30 from the free-throw line on Tuesday night, their first 25+ free-throw night since a trip to Kansas City in November of 2019.
First Quarter:
Back-to-back-to-back 5-0 runs got the game started with Kansas City taking a 10-5 lead in the opening four minutes of the contest. The Roos went on a stretch of 8-for-9 from the field in the middle part of the quarter to go on a 15-5 run and carry a 20-10 lead into the first quarter media timeout.
Denver ended the quarter on another 5-0 run to cut the deficit to six through 10 minutes of play in Hamilton.
Boyd led Denver with a game-high eight points in the quarter and Ezeudu finished with six in the opening stanza.
Second Quarter:
Kansas City opened the second quarter on a 10-3 run to push its lead to 32-19 and force Denver's first timeout of the night.
Denver was able to steady the ship and get the lead back down to 10 at the intermission. Ezeudu got to the hole in the second quarter, drawing three fouls and converting on all six of her free-throw attempts in the quarter. Ezeudu led a Pioneers team that got to the line 12 times in the quarter, knocking down 10-of-12. Santos, who was the only player on the floor to play all 10 minutes in the frame, added five points a steal and a block in the quarter.
The Pioneers took care of the ball in the first half, turning it over just five times while turning the Roos' over 14 times in the opening 20 minutes.
Third Quarter:
A Boyd jumper and an
Anna Jackson triple got Denver's second half started, trimming the Kansas City lead to six for the first time since the end of the first quarter.
Kansas City went on an 8-3 run sandwiched around an
Indeya Sanders triple to push the lead back to 12 at the media timeout.
Jackson hit her second triple of the quarter at the buzzer to pull Denver within eight at the end of three. Boyd led the Pioneers with seven in the frame to go with three assists. Jackson add her six and pulled down a couple of rebounds in the quarter.
Fourth Quarter:
A 5-0 Kansas City spurt in the middle of the fourth extended the Roos lead to 13 at 68-55 with 6:34 to play.
The Pioneers crawled their way back to within seven in the final three minutes thanks in part to a lay-in from Boyd and a drive to the bucket from Ezeudu, Denver's two leading scorers on the night.
Denver and Kansas City traded threes with Jackson hitting Denver's before the Pioneers' second timeout of the evening with 1:39 to play and the score at 73-66.
Notes:
- Uju Ezeudu finished in double figures for the third-straight game, the 17th time this season and the 51st time in her career.
- Meghan Boyd finished in double figures for the 11th time this season and the 38th time in her career.
- Tess Santos finished in double figures for the ninth time this season and the 24th time in her career.
- Denver made 20+ free-throws for the first time this season, the most since a trip to Omaha in February of 2020.
- The Pios had 25+ free-throws for the first time since a trip to Kansas City in November of 2019.
What's Next:
Denver will complete a stretch of seven games in a two-week span on Thursday when the Pioneers cap off the first half of their Summit League schedule with a trip to Omaha. Tip is set for 6 p.m. MT.
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